Since the early 1990′s, the fabricating industry has witnessed a move towards lean manufacturing — with technological evolution at the center. Read how recent developments are moving fabricating even closer to full automation.

In the early 1990′s, the fabricating industry as a whole shifted its gears towards lean manufacturing. This readjustment in the way things were made was sparked in the U.S. in part by the publication of James P. Womack’s book on the Toyota Production System, “The Machine That Changed the World”. Making the move towards lean manufacturing entailed the adoption of just-in-time inventory management and introduced a corporate culture whose chief tenet was the elimination of unnecessary steps in the fabricating process. At the same time, as the memory storage and computational speeds of computers continued to increase, many medium and smaller-sized fabricators were given the opportunity to implement computer-based planning and scheduling technology for the first time.

Key to the acceleration of business operations was the emergence of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI was initially developed by larger manufacturers to communicate with their supply-chain partners. Though it was successful at circumventing many steps in business communications and transactions, its chief drawback was that suppliers had to implement specified technology based on the manufacturer’s unique EDI setup. This was a costly procedure that effectively locked smaller-scale companies out of the picture. With the advent of the Internet, however, and the notion of wide scale business-to-business commerce became more substantial, these EDI-enabled manufacturers began to see the web as an alternate means of business communication and smaller and mid-sized suppliers were given a place at the table.

Since the web is based on a common technological system, originally consisting of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), fabricators could now use this technology to connect with an unlimited number of trading partners at a cost considerably less than it takes to implement EDI. This newfound expansion led to the need for software tools that could oversee a multitude of trading relationships, each one operating simultaneously, as opposed to a system that limited itself to a linear supply chain model. This necessity set the stage for enterprise channel management (ECM), a technology for integrating partner networks. No longer defined by the linear model, ECM approaches supply chain partnerships as a hub-based network feeding into the company at the center. Using a standardized computer language, such as Extensible Markup Language (XML), a communications entry point, such as an Internet portal, can enable the integration of multiple applications throughout an entire network of independently operating partners.

For all the Internet’s increased connectivity without the cost of establishing private networks, however, there were still limits as to the extent to which companies could specifically communicate and share data. XML was introduced in 1998 by the Worldwide Web Consortium as a measure to remedy the incompatibility of computer languages and to an extent it has been successful in that regard, although the current drive towards B2B standardization needs to progress in order to ensure its continued functionality.

Sensing a need for a comprehensive product design tool, software vendors have recently introduced product data management (PDM). PDM is constructed as a means for manufacturers to bolster productivity, increase throughput by eliminating inefficiencies and basically simplify the process of design itself. Once again, the elimination of unnecessary steps is the guiding principal at work. Essentially, PDM technology collects and organizes any information relating to the manufacturing process, thereby making it possible to keep track of customized product configurations. CAD/CAM files, process plans, analysis models, prototypes, material specifics, purchasing information and any other data that is relevant, can now all be integrated under PDM, bringing industry one step closer to a state of seamless automation.

There are experts who envision a day when fabricating systems are, for all intents and purposes, fully automated and self-operating. Recent breakthroughs in embedded intelligence and networking capabilities are steps in that direction, pointing towards the inevitable development of fabricating systems that will have the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. The sensors embedded in products and machines will be able to monitor their components in relation to the surroundings, determine when repair is needed, and then using the Internet, arrange their own maintenance accordingly. This scenario is not as distant as it sounds. Manufacturers have already begun incorporating web servers into microchip sensors, so it may only be a matter of time until fabricating systems are able to operate independently.

Source: Communication on the Factory Floor: What Today’s B2B Technology Has To Offer
Sheree Martin
Fabricating Equipment News, May 2001
http://www.vulcanpub.com/fen/article.asp?article_id=58210